In a computer system, as the scale of the system increases, the number of electronic devices in the system such as servers, storages, and network devices increases. For the increased number of electronic devices, a storage frame called a rack is used to store the electronic devices efficiently and achieve space saving. To mount the electronic devices in the rack, casing mounting rails for mounting the casing of the electronic devices are laid from the front side to the rear side of the rack. The electronic devices are mounted in the rack in a stacked manner with their casing mounted on the casing mounting rails.
This casing mounting rail is fixed to a support on the front side of the rack and another support on the rear side of the rack. Processes for fixing the casing mounting rail to the rack thus include a fixation process on the front side of the rack and a fixation process on the rear side of the rack.
When mounted to a rack, the electronic devices do not necessarily fill the rack. When the electronic devices thus mounted do not fill the rack, a part with no electronic device mounted results in space within the rack. In this case, when such space is given on the front face of the rack, the exhaust air of the electronic devices is returned and sucked back into the electronic devices. This state interferes with appropriate cooling of the electronic devices and accumulates heat in the electronic devices, which causes a failure. In view of these circumstances, a blank plate is attached to fill the space on the front face in racks.
As such a filling blank plate in related art, a blank plate serves as a shelf to house a printed circuit board on which electronic circuits are mounted. When the printed circuit board is inserted, the blank plate opens and serves as a guide rail supporting the insertion of the printed circuit board (Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 11-340655).
A conventional general blank plate is a monolithic plate formed of iron or the like, and is selectively attached according to the size of open space as occasion demands. Because of this, to mount a new electronic device to the open space, space used to mount the electronic device is checked in advance, a mounting place is determined, and a blank plate attached to the place is removed. Subsequently, casing mounting rails for mounting the electronic device are laid, and the electronic device is mounted on the casing mounting rails. The process for mounting the electronic device to the open space of the rack is thus complicated and time consuming.
The conventional technology that functions as both the guide rail and the blank plate reduces the trouble with removing a blank plate and the trouble with laying rails. However, in an electronic device such as a server, its casing has a thickness. Given this situation, in this conventional technology, when a plurality of blank plates are arranged, an electronic device comes into contact with a protrusion for mounting the electronic device, making it hard to mount the electronic device.